Shapeless like water
by AsdButTrue
Summary: "I'm afraid you're mistaking me for someone else". He removed his straw hat, exposing his face. He was a panda, no doubt about that. At a second look, however, he obviously wasn't Po. "But we're probably looking for the same person", he added.


**Hey, I'm the author. Here's the first chapter of my first Kung Fu panda story. Now, before starting to read, you might want to know what to expect from this story of mine. **

**Well, first of all, I'm expecting it to be short, meaning not longer than 5-6 chapters. Secondly, it's going to be an action-packed adventure, a tale of honor, philosophy and Kung Fu. Probably some Po X Tigress moments. **

**And comedy! After all, it's Po we're talking about.**

**I hope I answered your doubts. Now, it's up to you to read it.  
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**Shapeless like water**

A lone wanderer was traveling across the forest. He was wearing a big straw hat, that covered the upper part of his face and protected it from the fiery wind, and a long red mantle twisted around his tall, large body. He also wore a wooden backpack, as big as his imposing back and, by the look of it, very heavy.

The wanderer was walking at a fairly slow pace, following the beaten track that would have eventually lead him to the Valley of Peace. He calmly ignored the sounds of the forest, that could seem so mysterious and even … menacing, to the untrained ear. He had been traveling for a long time, enough time for him to learn not to let those noises intimidate him.

Still, if only he had paid more attention to said noises, he could have noticed how a certain rustle was actually coming from a close bush, rather than the inside of the forest. And that it hadn't been caused by the wind.

When the bandits came to the open, it was too late for him to regret his carelessness. Suddenly, the traveler found himself surrounded by a group of four – no, five linxes. They had followed him since he entered the forest, and had waited for the right moment to ambush their prey.

"This is where your travel ends, big guy" one of the lynxes spoke, waving his right hand - the one that held a rusty and quite threatening knife, "… unless you give us all of your possessions".

At those words, another lynx laughed, stricken with hysteria.

"Yeah! What do you have inside that backpack, uh? Food? Money? I hope it's food, 'cause I've been starving for quite some time, now!"

The traveler stayed still, and slowly looked at his aggressors from beneath his straw hat. Each one of them was half his size, and even though they were armed, their weapons looked old and shabby. The lynxes themselves didn't look like expert warriors, on the contrary: ragged clothes, tired and disturbed expressions, undernourished constitution…

The traveler raised his hat with the left hand, as to display his visage to the bandits. Then, he spoke in a placatory tone:

"If it's food that you want, I can give it to you. I still have some left, and I won't need it since I'm very close to reach my destination".

He bowed, and put his backpack on the ground. And when he raised his gaze once again, much to his surprise, he saw that the lynxes were all staring at him with terror, while slowly backing off.

The bandit with the knife opened his mouth to speak, trying his best to keep his voice firm.

"Dragon Warrior… we're very sorry… We couldn't recognize you, because of the straw hat and all… "

The other lynxes nodded frantically, and one or two even let their weapon fall to the ground.

The wandering panda wasn't expecting such a reaction, so he delayed his answer. Nonetheless, his interlocutors soon showed no intention to hear it: after a few seconds, they all ran in different directions, straggling into the thick vegetation of the woods.

The panda stood there in disbelief. He looked around, as to make sure that the bandits had really gone away, just like that. Everything made it look like they had. Puzzled, he lifted his backpack once again and, after a moment of hesitation, resumed his journey.

Only one thought crossed his mind:

"I must be on the correct path".

**XxX XxX XxX XxX**

Since the Gongmen city affair, Master Shifu had been much stricter with his pupils, and especially with Po. The Dragon Warrior was forced to undergo a very special training, one that could not be witnessed by anybody, not even by the Furious Five. Hence, Shifu and Po had left the Jade Palace, probably headed for the Pool of Sacred Tears, or some other mystical place. However, the old Master had not forgotten to compile a very rigid list of exercises for his other students to accomplish while he was gone.

Tigress was the most disappointed one, among the Furious Five, by this unexpected turn of events. She didn't care about the supplement of training, she just felt she had been left behind by her Master. Of course, she would never admit that. Whenever Monkey, or Crane, or even Viper asked her if she was alright, she would answer with a simple "yes", and then go train some more.

Mantis, on the other hand, was much more disturbed by the fact that Po wasn't cooking dinner for them anymore. The Panda had been gone for almost a week, now, and the insect had gone insane. He practically forced Crane to go down to the village every day, to bring back some noodles from Mr. Ping's restaurant.

"Why me?" Crane once asked.

"Because you can fly. Then fly for me, baby" Mantis answered, mostly because he wanted to make Monkey laugh (succeeding). Crane's proverbial good nature prevented him from declining his friend's request.

That is why that day, just as the others before that, Crane had gone to Mr. Ping's noodles restaurant. He was talking nicely with the goose and his customers who, without exception, knew him and his reputation of a formidable kung fu master, when he heard that suspicious buzzing coming from the streets outside the building.

"Look, it's the dragon warrior!" someone screamed, soon to be echoed by some other voices.

Hearing that, both Crane and Mr. Ping hurried outside, to see a giant, fat Panda walking among the street, surrounded by a large number of people waving and shrieking at him like teenage fan girls.

The panda seemed to be pretty embarrassed by that warm display of affection. He walked slowly, scratching the back of his neck with one hand, and gently moving his fans out of his way with the other.

"Po!" Crane exclaimed, dashing in his direction with his opened wings. Mr. Ping followed from behind.

"Hey, what's with the straw hat?" Crane asked, while getting closer to whom he thought was his friend, "Where's Master Shifu?"

"I'm sorry…?" the panda demanded, turning his attention to the bird.

Crane finally reached him, and stood in front of him with an amused expression. "About what?"

"No, I mean, I'm sorry but I didn't actually get what you asked me…"

"Did you hurt your head or what?" Crane inquired, the amusement of before quickly leaving his face, "Was the special training THAT harsh?"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about!" the panda said. He put his hands in front of him, defensively.

Soon after he finished his sentence, an overjoyed Mr. Ping came running over him. The goose jumped and enveloped the panda in an overly affectionate hug.

"Po, you've come back! You must be hungry! Come inside the restaurant, I'll feed you until your stomach will… Hey, wait a second".

Mr. Ping interrupted his speech, as something in that hug didn't feel quite right.

"… Son, did you lose some weight? Are you feeling alright?"

The panda smoothly pushed him away, and gave an uncomfortable smile.

"I'm afraid you're mistaking me for someone else". He removed his straw hat, exposing his face. He was a panda, no doubt about that. But, at a second look, he obviously wasn't Po. His eyes were blue, not green, and despite his enormous size, his body was a bit less corpulent than that of the well known Dragon Warrior.

"But we're probably looking for the same person", he added.

**XXxXX XXxXX**

Po fell to the ground with a thud.

"No-nomore!" he gasped, his tongue coming out of his mouth.

Master Shifu was sitting on the upper edge of his own staff, the lower one being stuck in the soil. His balance was virtually perfect, and had not been disrupted by Po's complaints, nor by the blowing wind, nor by the soft rain that was falling. His eyes were closed, and Po wondered if he had even heard him.

"The only thing I asked you to do, is to meditate" the master spoke, quietly.

"I'm trying!" the student answered, without making any attempt at standing back up, "I'm meditating about how cold and windy is out here!"

"You should not meditate about your surroundings, but IN SPITE of them" the master spoke, a little less quietly than before.

"Mmm… Ooookay…" Po mumbled, unpersuaded. He closed his eyes. The rain was tickling his back, as he was lying on his stomach. The wind was ruffling his fur. The grass was wet.

"It's hard" Po groaned, reopening his eyes. Master Shifu ignored him. The panda rolled on his back, and faced the dark night sky. The moon was full, and beautiful, and it looked just like a delicious white dumpling.

"I'm hungry" Po lamented, and in response, Shifu's right ear twitched briefly.

"What's the meaning of all this "meditation" stuff, by the way?"

Shifu sighed.

"I told you already. Meditating is the key to obtain inner peace…"

"Oh, I got that!" Po intervened, interrupting his master's speech, and upsetting him pretty much. Master Shifu opened his eyes, only to give his pupil a menacing look. When he saw that Po had been intimidated enough, he continued:

"… and concentration. You're sorely lacking in the latter".

"Concentration, eh? I can concentrate, if I try really hard! I'm sure I can!"

"Then, do it" Shifu concluded, slowly closing his eyes once again.

Po sat up, and put his hands around his temples.

"Concentrate, concentrate…" he murmured. But then another thought struck his mind.

"Concentrate about what?"

"Just… empty… your mind…" was his master's answer. He was trying really hard not to lose his composure.

"Okay. Sure. Empty my mind. It can't be that hard, can it?" Po clapped his hands once in determination, then he lied down. "Empty… My mind is empty… as my stomach!"

The panda kept on muttering incoherent sentences for a few minutes, until he finally stopped. A deep silence ensued… much to Shifu's satisfaction.

Oh, sweet silence. A well deserved silence. A very long silence. A suspiciously long silence.

Shifu found himself wondering if his apprentice had finally succeeded his task, when suddenly, he heard him snoring.

"Hmpf. It's probably still too early for him, I suppose" he thought. Then his mind roamed around, bringing back to him memories of a far past, when he himself was still an apprentice.

_**XXXxXXX**_

"_Master Oogway!"_

_When Shifu reached the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, his master was nowhere to be seen. He looked around some more, just to be sure, but the Tortoise definitely wasn't there._

_However, right when he turned his back to the tree, ready to leave, his master's voice answered: "I'm here, my friend"._

_Shifu looked back at the Peach Tree in disbelief. Master Oogway was there, sitting at the base of the tree. His legs were crossed, his eyes were closed, his expression was serene. He had become one with his surroundings, to the point that not even Shifu could actually see him, nor sense his presence, until he had spoken._

"_Master…" the red panda said, faltering for a moment, before adding: "… If I am, by any means, disturbing you…"_

"_You are not, young Shifu"_

_The tortoise opened his eyes, uncrossed his legs and slowly stood up with the help of his staff. His movements were very relaxed… and slow. Shifu didn't dare to say anything else; he just waited for his master to speak again._

"_Is something troubling you?" _

"_No, master. I'm fine. But Master Hu Chuan is waiting for you at the palace"_

"_Oh, right…" Master Oogway said, as his eyes widened for a brief moment, "… I suppose I lost track of time"._

_That said, he set off in the direction of the palace, with Shifu right behind him. They both walked slowly and silent for a bit._

_The red panda was the first one to break the silence._

"_How did you do it, Master?" he asked._

"_What are you referring to?" Oogway said as he gave a crafty smile._

"_How did you conceal your presence so well? You were right there, in front of me, but I could not see you"_

_The tortoise smile enlarged._

"_How can fishes swim underwater, without rippling the surface?"_

_Shifu slackened his pace, as his master's question found him unprepared._

"_The answer lies in the water itself" Oogway said, answering his own query._ _"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot"._

_Oogway stopped and turned around, to face his pupil._

"_Be water, my friend"._

_The tortoise paused for a moment, as his words carved their way into Shifu's very soul._

"_Now, we shall go" he concluded, "for Hu Chuan is a rather impatient one"._

_The following days, Shifu made a habit of going to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom to meditate alongside his master, in order to reach that state of mind that Oogway had called "water". Obviously he failed at first, for his mind had not been trained enough yet._

_**XXXxXXX XXXxXXX**_

A snore interrupted Master Shifu's flow of memories. He looked at the panda, his apprentice, the snoring one. He involuntarily shrugged his shoulders. Then, he jumped down his staff, softly landing on the grass.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, the Master landed a kick on the staff, that from his vertical position fell to hit Po right in the face.

"OUCH!"

The Panda woke up suddenly and sat up, covering his hurt nose with his hands.

"Nnnnh… What happened?" Po asked, after a while, "What hit me?"

Shifu limped to the staff that was lying on the ground, right next to Po, and said: "Stand up, Po. It's time for us to return to the Jade Palace"

Po, still massaging his nose, put on a surprised face.

"What? Already? Weren't you going to teach me, like, some new, cool move?"

Shifu bowed and grabbed the staff, then looked at Po.

"I'm afraid it's too early for you"

"Uh? No, no, nonono… wait!" Po exclaimed, jumping on his feet "I'll train more! You want me to meditate? I'll meditate, look.."

Shifu waved his staff with one hand, only to make it land on Po's face again.

"OUCH!"

"Master Oogway used to say: _'__All things will be clear and distinct to the man who does not hurry; haste is blind and improvident'" _Shifu calmly explained, "If I want to teach you the _Mental State of Water_, we will have to start from the basics. And that, we can do at the Jade Palace".

"Wait a second, what did you say..? Water state of what?" Po asked, with a puzzled expression.

"Come, Po. Let's go back home".

**XXXxXXX XXXxXXX**

"I'm afraid he won't be coming back in the near future" Tigress said, her arms crossed over her chest. Behind her, Monkey, Viper and Mantis were sitting at the table of the dining room. Five fuming plates of delicious noodles were resting on the same table, but the masters were all so intrigued by the guest that Crane had brought along, that they forgot to eat. Except for Mantis.

"Oh… that's unfortunate" the panda observed. He was standing next to the only door of the room, slightly behind Crane. Viper noticed he seemed pretty intimidated by Tigress' harsh manners, hence she tried to reassure him.

"Po is training with our Master, but we don't know where they are. We don't know when they'll be back, nor how to contact them" she explained.

Monkey scratched his chin reflectively.

"Why are you looking for Po, anyway?"

Crane leaped up.

"Oh, you'll never believe it, you guys"

The Panda gave a very embarrassed smile.

"Well… How can I say it…"

Everyone in the room stared at him intensely.

"My name is Xiao Shan. I'm the little brother of Xiao Lao, the panda that you know by the name of '_Po_'. I'm looking for him, because my… **our** village is in danger".

Mantis almost chocked to death.

**XXXxXXX XXXxXXX**

The log cabin was empty, except for a big, rectangular table, placed in the center of the dark room, and a gigantic black bear, who was sitting on the chair at the head of the table.

His fur was indeed black - except for a white, 'V' shaped mark on his chest – but his eyes were of a burning, red colour, that stood out in the darkness. His size was imposing, and his long, muscular arms were frightful.

Silence reigned over the place, except for the noises made by the snowstorm that was raging outside, and the bear was motionless, as if his thoughts were wandering, somewhere far away.

Suddenly he spoke, with a deep, firm voice:

"You may enter"

At those words, the door opened and five black silhouettes made their way into the room. The bear looked at those silhouettes, as they slowly reached the table and sat at their righteous seat. When the door got closed from the outside by one of his servants, and the bright light of the day ceased to come in from it, the bear could look at his guests and finally recognize their faces.

Sitting next to his right was Wolverine, his best student. She had thick, dark, oily fur and green eyes. She also displayed prominent white hair patches on her throat and chest. Despite being considerable smaller than her master, everybody in the room knew she was remarkably strong for her size.

Right next to her, the black bear could see Saru, the macaque. His body was covered in grayish hair, except for his naked, pinkish face… and posterior. Luckily, the posterior was covered by a pair of blue trousers. His intelligent and communicative eyes firmly sustained the bear's gaze.

At the other side of the table, the closest of his students was Elk, the moose. He was well known for his palmate antlers, that he could use to fight with extreme and lethal precision.

The farthest was Naja Atra, the cobra. His venom was famed as the most deadly of all China.

Tam Pong, the tapir, was sitting in the middle. His hair was black, except for the tips of his ears which were rimmed with white. His seraphic face, his small, beady eyes and his cute, little proboscis could prove misleading, as his reputation of a strong kung fu master was well earned.

The black bear himself was a very strong kung fu Master, know in all China as Li Chuan, the prodigy son of the creator of the _Bear Style_, Hu Chuan.

None of the others dared to speak before him, implicitly acknowledging his superiority.

"My pupils" he interjected, with that same deep voice of before, as placing one hand on his heart "You all, you are my pride".

The students tried their best to hide how honored they felt by those words.

"We are ready. The time has come for us to leave this desolated land, and show our strength to the world".

Wolverine tapped the table with her sharp claws, the others smirked. Those were the news they had been waiting for.

"It's time for us to take back what it's OURS!" Li Chuan concluded, emphasizing his last word with a fiery punch on the table. The students gave vent to the frustration they had accumulated during all those years of hardship and sacrifice, and yelled. And their voices were so loud that all the people living in those mountains, despite the snowstorm, could hear their war cry.

**Aaaand, The End.**

**Well, to all of you who read my story up until the end, I say "thank you". But please let me know you're there. I mean, please review! ^_^ I put some effort into it, so I'd like to know what you think of my story. If it's bad or good. If for whatever reason you even feel to flame me, do it! Even though I'd rather have some constructive criticism…**

**Oh, and congratulations to all those who know from where I took my inspiration for Oogway's speech – it's actually a quote by a very famous martial artist.**

**Okay, goodbye for now!**


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